we are destroying the planet just because of out diets, the rainforest is bein cut down so we can grow soy bean farms to feed cattle and for what? to get the second hand protein that the animals got from the plants. no animals can make protein they all get it from plants, fact. there are doctors around the world now realising that it doesn't matter for far along their patients are , whether they are being fed through a tube and close to death as soon as they change their patients diet to plant based the patient gets better because it isnt a case of treating them with medicine (pharmaceuticals are not medicine by the way) its a case of taking the poisons out of their diet which they consume on a day to day basis. cancer can not survive in an alkaline rich environment. build ups of mucus is the cause of all disease, research dr sebi! its a shame the meat eating morons are voting this down it just shows how strong the conditioning is.

I've talked about this before several times but I'm a pescatarian (basically a vegetarian that also occasionally eats fish). I've not always been so, I have eaten meat in the past although for many years before changing I stopped eating red meat, only eating chicken and always with a guilty conscience.

If you take the time to read scientific reports on protein (not written by the meat industry) you will discover that red meat eaten anything like regularly is very unhealthy and has major links to heart disease and some cancers. On top of my reason for switching through was the killing, I'm a bit of a Buddhist and don't like to harm creatures if I can help it. My religion if I had one is 'If I won't kill it, I shouldn't eat it' I'm also a hypocrite because I will occasionally eat fish.

Once you make the decision to cut out red meat and find yourself only eating Chicken believe me it is a very very tiny jump to cutting out chicken and switching to a Quorn product (google it if you don't know what it is in your country) There are so many varieties of Quorn it comes in steaks, sausages, mince you name it. The texture is very similar to Chicken and it easily absorbs the flavour of any sauce you cook it in, it's also very quick to cook. Give it a week and you will be converted and feel better with yourself. JJ

#4 utter nonsense. Man lives longer and better now then any other time in history. I have never met a healthy vegetarian. My family lives on meat. My father worked till he was 88 years old. My mother is 90 and lives alone. I am 53 and I have missed 6 1/2 days works in my adult life. I haven't been to a doctor since 1981. I should add that I was adopted so it can't be genetics.

#4 That is not proven science and so many other factors go into the studies on it.
Vegetarian eating has an all-star health rep—but according to a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE, vegetarians may actually be less healthy than meat eaters, on average.
Austrian researchers examined the eating habits and health of 1,320 people, ranging from vegetarians to straight-up meat eaters. They found that vegetarians had higher incidences of cancer, allergies, and mental health disorders than their carnivorous counterparts.

#5. Judge-Jake … now that is the JJ that I knew was lurking out there. ;-) Articulate, interesting and still manages to surprise in the most interesting of ways. A committed a pescatarian and Quorn advocate?!! . Good on you!
And of course, your very good suggestion to all to go red meat free was bound to wind someone up.

#6. nomaddaf …. #4. monkeyboy may make some controversial and dubious claims but you are hardly free from spouting utter nonsense.

#6. nomaddaf ‘Man lives longer and better now than any other time in history.

Yes, but that is for a million reasons and very little if any have to do with eating red meat. Vaccines, agronomy, an understanding of genetics… sigh.

In today's NY Times 'Since 1900, average life expectancy around the globe has more than doubled, thanks to better public health, sanitation and food supplies. https://nyti.ms/2IBedxF Meat is NOT considered a factor.

#6. nomaddaf ‘I have never met a healthy vegetarian’

Well that is just a silly and stupid statement. You surrender any legitimacy with such rubbish. Actually people who invest time and make such decisions about their diets tend to be more conscious and healthy. That is just a fact.

#6. nomaddaf ‘My family lives on meat’.

Bully for you and your kin but their longevity almost certainly has little if anything to do with meat consumption. There are so many confounds that affect life expectancy, both positively and negatively, and to point to eating meat as the answer is just not supported by the science. It is far more complicated.

I do not know what some meat eaters are so incensed by any suggestion to either reduce, remove, or look for meat alternatives. It is like a gun to an American. It is my right as a human to eat meat. How dare you suggest otherwise!!! Easy Nancy… it was just a suggestion. Eating meat in moderation is recommended by all respectable doctors.

However, by all means, trumpet your silly meat ‘make me live long time’ reductionist argument. No one but you is falling for it.

#8. sux2bu you hit the nail on the head when you wrote ‘#4 That is not proven science and so many other factors go into the studies on it.’

That is PRECISELY it. Full stop. This cuts equally both ways. Human longevity is incredibly complex and subject to so many confounding variables, some of which remain unknown unknowns. The interplay between genetics, environment, behaviour, choices made over a lifetime etc etc are simply to complex to be reduced to any legitimate declarative statement regarding the impact of eating meat versus vegetarianism versus veganism versus all the shades in-between.

But that doesn’t stop us from having staunchly held positions like monkeyboy, nomaddaf etc etc and often regressing into the righteous defence of our own life choice vis-à-vis the choices made by others.
I think #5. Judge-Jake eloquently expressed and then alluded to most important part and often ignored part of this debate and that is reflecting on where our food comes from, how it is grown / raised, how it is processes (killed, packaged and utilized) and the environmental impact – now and for future generations.

I like the taste and demand to eat meat. Ok, but the financial and environmental cost per hectare to raise animals plus the hormones and antibiotics that go into meat production now should give all pause. We are rapidly moving towards antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria due to the widespread use in every facet our foods and supply (to increase yield and earning) that will kill many many people – that is a scientific fact. So your demand for a cheap steak or burger destroys the planet for your grandchildren and makes us al vunlerable to superbugs. . Great.

Soy and alternatives are the answer. These also encourage the cutting down of valuable rainforest lands and they threaten long held eating traditions. Quorn is a soil mould, a fungus, and that turns people off. Gross. Veggie alternatives are getting much better but it takes time to change long held and often culturally embedded practices and traditions. And mind-sets.

The polarization around this issue still amazes me. Demanding to eat meat and going vegetarian are really two ends of the same cult. Both can be equally righteous, determined, stubborn and annoying.

Personally, I think one should be cognizant of where their food comes from, how it is grown / raised, the environmental impact, and the health implications, to make moderation a principle in dietary choices – and remain open minded and respectful of others. Until provoked otherwise ;-)

They are right, it's a matter of choice but it's not the whole story. All the "alternatives" are for the rich people, it's often more expensive and more a social thing than anything else. You should do something because you want to do it, not because someone tells you to do it. It's just too early in development and in the future I'm sure humans will have moved away from animal slaughter for food and instead growing meat on farms via other means. In the end it's all about money and greed.